# Company formation glossary

Updated : 2026-10-22 · Source : https://legalrapide.fr/en/glossaire/

The terms you will come across when setting up a company, defined in one or two sentences.

| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| **Articles of association (statuts)** | The document that creates the company and sets its rules: name, purpose, registered office, capital, duration, officers, powers. |
| **Share capital** | The partners' contributions to the company; it belongs to the company and is stated in the articles. €1 minimum for a SAS or SARL. |
| **Certificate of deposit of funds** | Certificate issued by the bank or notary once the capital has been deposited (commercial companies). |
| **Legal notice** | Notice of incorporation published in an authorised newspaper; its price is a flat rate set each year by ministerial order. |
| **Guichet unique** | The formalites.entreprises.gouv.fr website, run by INPI, mandatory since 2023 for all business formalities. |
| **Greffe** | The registry of the commercial court (in Paris, the tribunal des activités économiques), which checks the application and registers the company with the RCS. |
| **RCS** | Trade and companies register. |
| **RNE** | National business register, kept by INPI. |
| **Kbis** | Extract of registration with the RCS, the company's "identity card". |
| **SIREN / SIRET** | The business's 9-digit number / the 14-digit number of each establishment, assigned by Insee. |
| **RBE** | Register of beneficial owners: people who hold more than 25% of the capital or voting rights, or who control the company. |
| **Registered address (domiciliation)** | The address of the registered office; it can be at the director's home, in business premises or with an approved domiciliation provider. |
| **Company in formation** | A company between the signing of the articles and its registration; it does not yet have legal personality. |
| **Regularisation** | A request from the greffe to correct or complete an application before registration. |
| **Assimilé salarié / TNS** | The director's social security schemes: the general scheme (president of a SAS) or the self-employed scheme (majority manager of a SARL). |

## Sources
- [Service-public: company registration formalities](https://entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr/vosdroits/F35934)